{"data":{"id":"70cb12f0-a08f-4ff0-84fe-0a70a3d0d368","originKind":"SYNDICATED","title":"Fringe Review: Ghost Quartet a haunting, immersive night of music","summary":"Ghost Quartet\n\n4 stars (Out of 5)\n\nStage 36, ArtsHub Ortona, 9722 102 St.\n\nGhost Quartet is at times a confounding bit of theatre. There are several interwoven storylines crossing centuries and styles, all played by the same performers, so there were moments I wasn’t clear where we were.\n\nHowever, they do manage to resurface often enough and weave back together at the end that all of them feel resolved.\n\nThat said, the Brave Spaces production of Dave Malloy’s 2014 chamber musical is such a beguiling, captivating 90 minutes, divided into four parts like a record, weaving stories of love, death, heartbreak, and, everyone’s favourite, whiskey. And whisky.\n\nPerformers Ashlin Turcotte, Ethan Bintu-Watt, Lisa Kotelniski and Matthew Gregg (kudos to him for performing separate musicals in the same night) not only sing their way through the play, but they also provide the instrumentation, including piano/keyboard, drums, harp, autoharp, guitar and more, blending jazz and rock and folk and death marches into a moody, booze-filled story.\n\nIt is at times unsettling, sad, exuberant, and ethereal. The vocals echoed off of the brick walls and windows in a haunting manner.\n\nOf the two Jim Guedo-directed pieces playing at ArtsHub (the other being 35MM), I felt this piece made better use of the unique cross-shaped performance area in the large rectangular space. It allowed the actors to prowl from raised platform to raised platform, and gave us a variety of places to direct our attention.\n\nHowever, with the audience essentially seated in four quadrants along walls, where you were seated could affect how you heard the show.\n\nFor instance, there are seats that are essentially behind the some of the performers’ platforms, so if they are directing their singing into the middle, and, say, drums are being played loudly nearby, you might miss parts of the songs.\n\nBut as the show mixes up instrumentation and staging location so frequently, you’re never overly inconvenienced.\n\nAmid a festival offering all theatrical experiences under the sun, this does stand out as being unique.","url":"https://edmontonjournal.com/entertainment/edmonton-fringe-review-ghost-quartet","imageUrl":"https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/edmontonjournal/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/ghost-quartet_304767583.jpg","publishedAt":"2026-08-19T23:46:42.000Z","sourceLabel":"Edmonton Journal Music","tags":["Entertainment","Festivals","Local Arts","Theatre"],"authorName":"Dave Breakenridge","contentHtml":"<img alt=\"Ghost Quartet, at the 2026 Edmonton Fringe Festival.\" src=\"https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/edmontonjournal/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/ghost-quartet_304767583.jpg\" title=\"Ghost Quartet, at the 2026 Edmonton Fringe Festival.\" /><p> <strong>Ghost Quartet</strong> </p><p> <strong>4 stars (Out of 5)</strong> </p><p> <strong>Stage 36, ArtsHub Ortona, 9722 102 St.</strong> </p><p> Ghost Quartet is at times a confounding bit of theatre. There are several interwoven storylines crossing centuries and styles, all played by the same performers, so there were moments I wasn’t clear where we were. </p><p> However, they do manage to resurface often enough and weave back together at the end that all of them feel resolved. </p><p> That said, the Brave Spaces production of Dave Malloy’s 2014 chamber musical is such a beguiling, captivating 90 minutes, divided into four parts like a record, weaving stories of love, death, heartbreak, and, everyone’s favourite, whiskey. And whisky. </p><p> Performers Ashlin Turcotte, Ethan Bintu-Watt, Lisa Kotelniski and Matthew Gregg (kudos to him for performing separate musicals in the same night) not only sing their way through the play, but they also provide the instrumentation, including piano/keyboard, drums, harp, autoharp, guitar and more, blending jazz and rock and folk and death marches into a moody, booze-filled story. </p><p> It is at times unsettling, sad, exuberant, and ethereal. The vocals echoed off of the brick walls and windows in a haunting manner. </p><p> Of the two Jim Guedo-directed pieces playing at ArtsHub (the other being 35MM), I felt this piece made better use of the unique cross-shaped performance area in the large rectangular space. It allowed the actors to prowl from raised platform to raised platform, and gave us a variety of places to direct our attention. </p><p> However, with the audience essentially seated in four quadrants along walls, where you were seated could affect how you heard the show. </p><p> For instance, there are seats that are essentially behind the some of the performers’ platforms, so if they are directing their singing into the middle, and, say, drums are being played loudly nearby, you might miss parts of the songs. </p><p> But as the show mixes up instrumentation and staging location so frequently, you’re never overly inconvenienced. </p><p> Amid a festival offering all theatrical experiences under the sun, this does stand out as being unique. </p>","slug":"fringe-review-ghost-quartet-a-haunting-immersive-night-of-music","publicPath":"/news/2026-08-19-fringe-review-ghost-quartet-a-haunting-immersive-night-of-music"}}